West Virginia Lottery begins to accept credit card payments

West Virginia Lottery has expanded the payment journey for customers as it passed a rule allowing players to purchase lottery tickets with a bank-approved debit or credit card
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West Virginia Lottery has expanded the payment journey for customers as it passed a rule allowing players to purchase lottery tickets with a bank-approved debit or credit card.

Approved by Legislative Rule 179CSR1, the change allows customers to buy tickets via card payments as technological innovation and Covid restrictions elevate the importance of contactless and card payments. 

The lottery noted that its retail partners can impose a minimum payment restriction for card users, however no payment can exceed $200. 

Announcing the changes and outlining the terms, the West Virginia Lottery stated: “This is not a mandated requirement and retailers do not have to accept these payment types. 

“Some licensed retailers can remain at cash only for lottery purchases. Retailers accepting credit card purchases will have a visible sign posted.”

It comes after a successful year of trading for the lottery, which already confirmed it surpassed $1bn in sales with two months left of the fiscal year. 

As June 30 passed, marking the end of the financial year, Executive Director of the lottery John Myers detailed his expectations of total revenue of $1.25bn for FY2022 after a ‘strong’ year as the state came out of Covid-related issues. 

Myers noted that sales of community slot machines were outperforming those of casino slot machines and that racetrack lottery and Limited Video Lottery sales were recovering well from Covid. 

He added: “Actually, last week the race tracks had one of their better weeks than they’ve had in a long time. The casinos actually outperformed LVLs.”